2 Arkansas guards injured while trying to seize contrabandDERMOTT — Arkansas prison officials say two of its guards suffered minor injuries as they tried to seize contraband from inmates at a unit in the southeastern corner of the state. The Arkansas Department of Correction said Friday that multiple inmates attacked the guards at the Delta Regional Unit near Dermott during the evening Thursday. The pair received over-the-counter medication for bruises and lacerations. The inmates also broke windows ...

Arkansas man dies after invading homeMARION— Authorities say a 19-year-old man was shot and killed after entering a woman's home in Marion, Arkansas. According to the Crittenden County Sheriff's Office, ADT alarm company received a call early Sunday and made contact with an 80-year-old woman, who lives alone. The company called authorities in Marion and Crittenden County, who responded. The woman told authorities the intruder entered her home forcefully and that she had ordered h...

Former jail nurse pleads not guilty in inmate's deathTEXARKANA— A former jail nurse in Arkansas has pleaded not guilty to felony manslaughter in the 2016 death of a 20-year-old diabetic inmate. Prosecutors say inmate Morgan Angerbauer banged on her cell door for hours at the Texarkana jail and asked nurse Brittany Johnson to check her blood sugar. A probable-cause affidavit alleges that Johnson refused that request and said jail staff members, not inmates, decide when medical attention is needed...

Arkansas senator ends company's contract with rehab programLITTLE ROCK — The top Republican in the Arkansas Senate said Tuesday that his company terminated its agreement with a drug rehabilitation program after accusations workers provided by the nonprofit were unpaid. Republican Sen. Jim Hendren said his company, Hendren Plastics, terminated the agreement with the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Program following a lawsuit filed in Benton County that accused the program of conspiring with Hendren Plastics,...

3 gas utilities in Arkansas raise winter ratesLITTLE ROCK — Utility officials in Arkansas say winter rates have gone up because of an increase in costs to acquire natural gas. CenterPoint Energy, Black Hills Energy and Arkansas Oklahoma Gas entered their new rates on Tuesday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Customers will see rate increases ranging from almost 2 percent to nearly 9 percent compared to last November. The rates took effect Wednesday and will be in place through Marc...

Arkansas panel sued by medical marijuana business applicantsLITTLE ROCK— Applicants seeking to open medical marijuana businesses in Arkansas are suing the commission overseeing the proposals. The lawsuits were filed last week and placed under seal in Pulaski County, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. They allege the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission wrongly assessed hundreds of applications last month when it rejected bids for failing to meet minimum requirements. Attorney Alex Gray prepared t...

Arkansas taking comments on plan to start 75 mph speed limitLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas opened a 45-day comment period Monday on whether highway officials should let motorists drive at higher speeds and within minutes had elicited confessions from drivers who wrote that, while they themselves speed, other drivers are going even faster. Legislators this year approved raising interstate highway speeds to 75 mph and said motorists on other highways should be allowed to go faster, too, if engineering studies sh...

Voter investigation closes in Arkansas townshipSHADY GROVE — A local prosecutor says no one will be charged following a state investigation into potential voter fraud in northeast Arkansas' Shady Grove township. The case stems from a local spike in the number of registered voters just weeks before a 2016 vote on alcohol sales, The Jonesboro Sun reported. The election resulted in beer and wine sales remaining legal in the township. Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington requested an Arkansas ...

ADEQ: No way to have prevented solid waste district collapseLITTLE ROCK— A state environmental agency couldn't have prevented the financial collapse of a regional solid waste district in Arkansas, and it probably won't be able to if it happens again, officials told a state commission. Department of Environmental Quality attorney Mike McAlister told the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission that his agency couldn't have made a decision that would have "drastically changed" the outcome of the...

Arkansas boy dies after wrestling brother for riflePINE BLUFF — Authorities in Arkansas say a 12-year-old boy has died from a gunshot wound to the neck after wrestling with his brother for a rifle. Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Maj. Lafayette Woods Jr. says the boy died Thursday evening at his home after the weapon accidentally discharged. Woods says investigators have learned the boy and his 13-year-old brother began wrestling over the firearm that their father, Derick Shelton, kept in th...

Ex-Veteran's Affairs trainee pleads guilty to stealing drugsLITTLE ROCK — The third of three former Veteran's Affairs employees in Arkansas has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal prescription drugs from the VA hospital in Little Rock. Court records show 43-year-old Nikita Neal of Little Rock pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Little Rock to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute oxycodone in exchange for prosecutors dismissing two other conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say Neal was ...

Little Rock police concerned for safety at concertsLITTLE ROCK — Little Rock's police chief says his department is looking for the best way to monitor possible danger at performances and events without discouraging musicians from coming to Arkansas after a shooting during a rap concert this summer left 27 people injured. The Little Rock Police Department has twice sent letters of concern this month to a concert venue hosting a hip-hop show, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Police Chief ...

Arkansas bat population declining from deadly diseaseLITTLE ROCK — Scientists say several species of bats in Arkansas are declining because of a deadly disease associated with extensive mortality of bats in eastern North America. White-nose Syndrome was first discovered in the state in 2012. It affects hibernating bats and is named for the white fungus that appears on the muzzle and other parts of the bats. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Trey Reid says bats are an important part of ...

Off-duty Arkansas officer found justified in fatal shootingLITTLE ROCK— A Little Rock police officer who was working off-duty when she fatally shot a man has been cleared. Police have said Sgt. Angela Everett was carrying bank bags on Feb. 24 as she walked to her unmarked police car when a vehicle "rapidly" approached her. Everett said the vehicle parked and a passenger later identified as Gregory Childress, 44, exited while armed and wearing a mask. Police say Childress approached Everett and fired h...

Arkansas state senator tapped for federal energy policy postLITTLE ROCK— An Arkansas state senator said Thursday he's resigning from office to take a job with the Trump administration on a board focused on energy issues in the South. President Donald Trump announced he appointed Republican Sen. Eddie Joe Williams as the federal representative to the Southern States Energy Board, a non-profit organization focused on energy issues in 16 southern states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Williams, 63, s...

Arkansas asks court to let Planned Parenthood ruling standLITTLE ROCK— Arkansas' attorney general is asking a federal appeals court to not reconsider a panel's decision that the state can block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Tuesday asked the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to deny a request by three Planned Parenthood Great Plains patients to reconsider a three-judge panel's decision upholding the state's defunding decision. The panel in August vac...

Arkansas governor going on trade mission to China, JapanLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas' governor is traveling to China and Japan next week to meet with business and government leaders in his third trade mission to Asia since taking office. Gov. Asa Hutchinson's office on Wednesday said the governor is leaving Oct. 31 for the trip and will return Nov. 7. Hutchinson's office said the governor will visit Hefei province to sign a formal memorandum of understanding with Risever, a Chinese company that announced...

Former owner, administrator of hospice accused of fraudLITTLE ROCK— The former owner and an administrator of a hospice care provider in east Arkansas have been accused of billing the state Medicaid program nearly $290,000 for services to patients who weren't terminally ill. Investigation records say workers with Bridge of Faith Hospice and Palliative Care in Helena billed the Arkansas Medicaid program for two patients that didn't have a terminal illness. One of the patients had been listed by the ...

Report: Arkansas immigrant kids likely to live in povertyLITTLE ROCK — A children's advocacy group is calling on Arkansas to enact policies making it easier for immigrant families to get access to work and education after a new report illustrating their economic struggles. The report from the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation found that about 56,000 children from immigrant families in the state live at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, corresponding with an income of about $4...